Polearm from a Melee Context - Basic Bayonet Stance

Hello.  I just threw a video together because one of our newer fighters was asking if there was anything out there that covered the basics of bayonet style.  I couldn't find anything, so here's mine.  It more or less covers the basic starting stance and your two main blocks:

Having said that, since this blog is about melee tactics, I might as well throw in a little something about it from that perspective.

Poles are, in my opinion, the finger in a dike that is built largely of shields and spears.  Shields form the foundation that your unit is built off of, spears are the killing machines, and poles fill in the cracks between the two.

The polearm's job is mainly to hang back, watch, and wait for an opportunity.  Opportunities present themselves in a couple of manners.  As shields that are too far away to hit you, or as opponents who are preoccupied with one of your allies.

90% of your kills will come in one of three fashions:

1)  A light, quick stab to the face

2)  A hard, heavy stab to the gut on the sword arm side (usually their right) of a sword and shield

3)  A hard shot to the left side of their head

If you don't find one of those three shots open, then swing anyway.  It will blind them and keep them busy.

By and large your best defense against a sword and shield is going to be to swing at them as you back away and run toward your guys.  Once you are with your team, you should be able to find opportunities where you can attack a shiedman who is engaged with another fighter.

If you are in the middle of a static battle, your best bet is usually to stand in the second rank and wait.  If the lines press, you need to follow from the second rank and swing over top of the shields.

That's it in a nutshell.

Don't Leave your Spears on the Flank - Leg 'em and Leave 'em

Its been a while since I've posted, but this video came up in my Facebook feed and I wanted to share these two thoughts.

VIDEO


Spears on the Flank

One of the fundamentals behind standard SCA tactics is creating a shield wall.  I write a lot about the ineffectiveness of shield walls, but its not because they are ineffective in and of themselves.  If done properly, they are very effective.  The problem is that they are often used ineffectively.

The real value with a shield wall is in the game of rock, paper, scissors, if the other side presents paper, you cut right through it with scissors.  That is, if the other side presents a bunch of spears, or a loose skirmish line with no clear organization or back up, form up your shield wall and punch right through them.

What happens, more often than not, is that both sides will form their shield walls and then slam into each other, center on center, as if its a sumo wrestling match.  What about the poles and spears?  They end up sitting in the back field, and often drifting off to the sides.  There's really only two places that spears can go in this situation (not the sides!).  They can either sit behind the shield wall and wait for gaps to open up in order to attack, or they can start in front of the shield wall and initiate the attack before the other side charges, and prepare to slip between their shields and into the backfield when the other side presses.

Leaving them on the flank just gets them run over (unless they are quick and crafty).  Notice in the video above that the near flank of the team on the right left two spears out on the end, who quickly got run over.


Leg 'em and Leave 'em

Near the end of the video you see two fighters spend a bit of time trying to kill a legged fighter.   Meanwhile there's a 3 on 3 battle at the far end of the gym.  Had they left this fighter, they could have had a 5 on 3 advantage, win the fight, and then come back to take on the legged fighter.